Page 129 - RSDG Year of 2021 CREST

a Tetrarch reconnaissance light tank as it plunged from its glider a few hundred feet from the ground.
Progress after crossing the Rhine on 25 March was slow and painful, with virtually continuous fight- ing although Murray records that his own tank was never hit by an armour-piercing shell, mortar fire or the turret penetrated by the blast from a terrifying Panzerfaust. He was not far behind Captain Aidan Sprot and Recce Troop in the race to the Baltic using the same road and as German forces rushing west to avoid capture by the Russians advancing rapidly east. After covering 80 miles in one day, the Greys reached Wismar on 2 May 1945.
The war in Europe was over and later that month the Regiment moved to Rotenburg, between Bremen and Luneburg. One task sent Murray to Eindhoven in Holland to collect Philips radios, travelling with Tpr Doug Taylor his batman, in a Morris 15 cwt recently liberated from the Germans after being taken at Dunkirk. As the radio sets would not be ready for three days he decided to visit a friend in Belgium. In Brussels they left the old Morris in a military vehicle park where it was deemed suspicious and impounded. On returning, finding no transport, he pleaded suc- cessfully with the Town Mayor to have it released and avoided a potential court martial. Back in barracks and later in Luneberg, Lieutenant Walker was pleased to be Mechanical Transport Officer, responsible for wheeled vehicles, and answerable to the Technical Adjutant, which he became in February 1946. One of his duties was the issue of driving permits which were accepted for a civilian licence; he never had to take a driving test.
His passion for horsepower as opposed to equine power did not endear him to his commanding officer, Lt Col Douglas Stewart (who would later win an Equestrian Gold Medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics). Just as the Greys were reverting to normal peacetime ways Murray had started a motor-cycle club for the whole of 4th Armoured Brigade. His enthusiasm for organ- ising scrambles, sourcing and building bikes with the Regimental Fitters prompted questions about his suitability as an officer in the Regiment. His promo- tion to war substantive Captain was held back but he was given Local rank. Returning to Luneburg after a short leave, he had to answer to the Commander 4th Armoured Brigade, Brig Michael Carver (then in his early thirties and later Field Marshal), who resolved matters by appointing Captain Walker as Technical Adjutant of the newly-formed BAOR RAC Training Centre at Belsen. The notorious concentration camp was transforming to become Caen Barracks, named after the Normandy town the Greys had helped liber-
ate after D-Day. With all its full training and recrea- tional facilities, Murray considered it a good place to finish his short army career, which concluded in May 1947 on returning to England through Hull.
Despite the way Murray left Regimental duty, he never lost his respect for the Greys, and was proud to have been able to serve in and fight with such a wonder- ful regiment. As a surprised subject of This Is Your Life’ he recalled his war service with affection, being reunited through Home HQ with his closest Greys colleague Captain Peter Johnson of the Recce Troop. As a guest of ‘Desert Island Discs’ he chose Pipes and Drums music. Murray Walker’s autobiography “Unless I’m Very Much Mistaken” was published in 2002 with one signing session at an Edinburgh book- shop where to his surprise the Regimental Secretary handed him a copy of the Regimental History and Traditions booklet.
Immediately after war service he embarked on a highly successful career in advertising lasting until he was 59. In the initial years he had dabbled with competition motor-cycle racing which gave way to his hobby of commentating begun in 1949. This became his paral- lel and second career for well over fifty years, recog- nised in 1996 when he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to motor sport and broadcasting, coverage of which is amply recorded in related publications. He received University hon- orary doctorates, several broadcasting and journal- istic awards and a permanent pavement record on the Birmingham Walk of Stars. In his sphere, he was undoubtedly ‘Second to None’.
Aged 36 Murray married Elizabeth in 1955, living ini- tially in London. The previous year Murray’s parents had moved from Enfield into the East Wing at Palace House at Beaulieu to help Lord Montagu develop the Motor Museum; tragically his father died in 1962 aged 66. Elizabeth and Murray had no children, enjoyed a sound understanding relationship and maintained a close contact with his parents. Latterly they moved from Hertfordshire to the New Forest to be near his mother Elsie, who lived to a spirited 101. Survived by Elizabeth, Murray Walker died in Fordingbridge on 13 March 2021 aged 97.
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